I’m in New York, and I’ve woken up too early. It’s a flying visit with Bryan Ferry for a guest spot in a concert of sea shanties, presided over by Hal Wilner (I worked on the album, Rogue’s Gallery, in April last year). I walked into the rehearsal to be confronted with a stage full of legendary session musicians backing up an avant–garde duet between Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson. As seems always to be the case in New York, everyone was incredibly laid back and genuinely welcoming. Anthony (from Anthony and the Johnsons) featured in one of Bryan’s tunes with violin, trombone and pots and pans abounding. Everything was so quiet and intense onstage, completely and blessedly, refreshingly different to the maelstrom we’d got used to on the tour! Bryan works so well in that stripped down environment and he really enjoyed it. Afterwards I bumped into Michael Stipe who didn’t remember inviting me to feel his heat patch in 2004. I was quite offended.

Bryan’s tour ended in much the style to which we had become accustomed. There was a rambunctious final show in Newcastle so we ended on a high, but I think everyone in the band was knackered and looking forward to being at home for a bit. With the exception of a couple of tv shows (including Jools Holland, at which the set was so dark during our number that I played a dreadful clanger that luckily they can edit out) and a trip to Stockholm all has been quiet on the Ferry front which has left me time to catch up on other things.

I finally finished the album with guest singers so it should be out for Autumn. The last track features KT Tunstall. She’d had it for a while, but when I went round to her house to record she said she’d not had time to come up with anything and would have to do it on the spot. She then proceeded to blow my mind by coming up with an absolutely brilliant tune, writing a verse, recording it, then the chorus, then a most un–KT–like spoken word section, then effortlessly stacking up some immaculate 7–part funky harmonies. I was completely staggered. obviously everyone knows she is talented, but to see it all happen up close was seriously impressve. This album has taken 2 years, almost to the day, to complete. Although I’ve released 2 other records in that time, and despite the obvious benefits of having the likes of KT and Brian Eno involved, this is the last time I involve so many other people. Waiting for and relying on others has been quite a nail–biter. But now it’s on with mixes, artwork and consent forms.

It has been a month of expensive purchases. First came a hurdy–gurdy which I had to have specially made. It is truly an instrument of the Gods. I felt like it was time to learn something new and have been trying to get to grips with the thing. Playing melodies on it is fairly straight–forward but combining that with getting a good rhythm out of the wheel thing is like patting your head and rubbing your stomach whilst completely pissed. I also bought a load of new gear for the studio (and spent hours helping my friend solder it together). Any nerves about the wisdom of lavishing so much cash about quickly disappeared during the inaugural session with the marvellous Smoke Fairies. Suddenly, everything sounded ’like a record’. The studio was good in the first place, but now it’s as if all the tools have been sharpened, making engineering ideas much more achievable. It feels equivalent to only having been allowed to play a guitar that was impossible to tune properly, then being given a really good one and hearing all your ideas come into focus.

There was another lovely session for King Creosote, but the highlight of the last few weeks for me has been getting started on the follow–up to Honeytrap. I did a couple of days recording with a percussionist called Martin Barker, who plays all manner of unusual instruments, some of which he makes himself, in a unique and powerful way. Most percussionists who use exotic instruments skirt dangerously and half–heartedly around ’world music’ territory, but not Martin. His contribution has opened up all kinds of new possibilities. In one case what he did was so good that I realised the song was crap by comparison and would have to be completely rethought. It was so cathartic to finally get round to recording these ideas that have been swimming around in my head for months, and now I am just itching to get back into the studio and carry on.